Promises to Abram(A)

12 Now the (B)Lord had said to Abram:

“Get (C)out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
(D)I will make you a great nation;
(E)I will bless you
And make your name great;
(F)And you shall be a blessing.
(G)I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in (H)you all the families of the earth shall be (I)blessed.”

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The Call of Abram

12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household(A) to the land(B) I will show you.(C)

“I will make you into a great nation,(D)
    and I will bless you;(E)
I will make your name great,
    and you will be a blessing.[a](F)
I will bless those who bless you,
    and whoever curses you I will curse;(G)
and all peoples on earth
    will be blessed through you.(H)[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 12:2 Or be seen as blessed
  2. Genesis 12:3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)

Now (A)therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and (B)keep My covenant, then (C)you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is (D)Mine. And you shall be to Me a (E)kingdom of priests and a (F)holy nation.’ These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.”

So Moses came and called for the (G)elders of the people, and [a]laid before them all these words which the Lord commanded him. Then (H)all the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do.” So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 19:7 set

Now if you obey me fully(A) and keep my covenant,(B) then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession.(C) Although the whole earth(D) is mine, you[a] will be for me a kingdom of priests(E) and a holy nation.’(F) These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.”

So Moses went back and summoned the elders(G) of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak.(H) The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.”(I) So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Exodus 19:6 Or possession, for the whole earth is mine. You

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now (A)make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

But the thing (B)displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel (C)prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for (D)they have not rejected you, but (E)they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.

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So all the elders(A) of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.(B) They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king(C) to lead[a](D) us, such as all the other nations(E) have.”

But when they said, “Give us a king(F) to lead us,” this displeased(G) Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen(H) to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected,(I) but they have rejected me as their king.(J)

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 8:5 Traditionally judge; also in verses 6 and 20

19 Nevertheless the people (A)refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, 20 that we also may be (B)like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord. 22 So the Lord said to Samuel, (C)“Heed their voice, and make them a king.”

And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”

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19 But the people refused(A) to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want(B) a king(C) over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations,(D) with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”

21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated(E) it before the Lord. 22 The Lord answered, “Listen(F) to them and give them a king.”

Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”

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God’s Disappointing Vineyard

Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved (A)regarding His vineyard:

My Well-beloved has a vineyard
[a]On a very fruitful hill.
He dug it up and cleared out its stones,
And planted it with the choicest vine.
He built a tower in its midst,
And also [b]made a winepress in it;
(B)So He expected it to bring forth good grapes,
But it brought forth wild grapes.

“And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah,
(C)Judge, please, between Me and My vineyard.
What more could have been done to My vineyard
That I have not done in (D)it?
Why then, when I expected it to bring forth good grapes,
Did it bring forth wild grapes?
And now, please let Me tell you what I will do to My vineyard:
(E)I will take away its hedge, and it shall be burned;
And break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.
I will lay it (F)waste;
It shall not be pruned or [c]dug,
But there shall come up briers and (G)thorns.
I will also command the clouds
That they rain no rain on it.”

For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel,
And the men of Judah are His pleasant plant.
He looked for justice, but behold, oppression;
For righteousness, but behold, [d]a cry for help.

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Footnotes

  1. Isaiah 5:1 Lit. In a horn, the son of fatness
  2. Isaiah 5:2 Lit. hewed out
  3. Isaiah 5:6 hoed
  4. Isaiah 5:7 wailing

The Song of the Vineyard

I will sing for the one I love
    a song about his vineyard:(A)
My loved one had a vineyard
    on a fertile hillside.
He dug it up and cleared it of stones
    and planted it with the choicest vines.(B)
He built a watchtower(C) in it
    and cut out a winepress(D) as well.
Then he looked for a crop of good grapes,
    but it yielded only bad fruit.(E)

“Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah,
    judge between me and my vineyard.(F)
What more could have been done for my vineyard
    than I have done for it?(G)
When I looked for good grapes,
    why did it yield only bad?(H)
Now I will tell you
    what I am going to do to my vineyard:
I will take away its hedge,
    and it will be destroyed;(I)
I will break down its wall,(J)
    and it will be trampled.(K)
I will make it a wasteland,(L)
    neither pruned nor cultivated,
    and briers and thorns(M) will grow there.
I will command the clouds
    not to rain(N) on it.”

The vineyard(O) of the Lord Almighty
    is the nation of Israel,
and the people of Judah
    are the vines he delighted in.
And he looked for justice,(P) but saw bloodshed;
    for righteousness,(Q) but heard cries of distress.(R)

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A New Covenant

31 “Behold, the (A)days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that (B)I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, [a]though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 (C)But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: (D)I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their [b]hearts; (E)and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for (F)they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For (G)I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

35 Thus says the Lord,
(H)Who gives the sun for a light by day,
The ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night,
Who disturbs (I)the sea,
And its waves roar
(J)(The Lord of hosts is His name):

36 “If (K)those ordinances depart
From before Me, says the Lord,
Then the seed of Israel shall also cease
From being a nation before Me forever.”

37 Thus says the Lord:

(L)“If heaven above can be measured,
And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,
I will also (M)cast off all the seed of Israel
For all that they have done, says the Lord.

38 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that the city shall be built for the Lord (N)from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. 39 (O)The surveyor’s line shall again extend straight forward over the hill Gareb; then it shall turn toward Goath. 40 And the whole valley of the dead bodies and of the ashes, and all the fields as far as the Brook Kidron, (P)to the corner of the Horse Gate toward the east, (Q)shall be holy to the Lord. It shall not be plucked up or thrown down anymore forever.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 31:32 So with MT, Tg., Vg.; LXX, Syr. and I turned away from them
  2. Jeremiah 31:33 Lit. inward parts

31 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
    “when I will make a new covenant(A)
with the people of Israel
    and with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant(B)
    I made with their ancestors(C)
when I took them by the hand
    to lead them out of Egypt,(D)
because they broke my covenant,
    though I was a husband(E) to[a] them,[b]
declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
    after that time,” declares the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds(F)
    and write it on their hearts.(G)
I will be their God,
    and they will be my people.(H)
34 No longer will they teach(I) their neighbor,
    or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know(J) me,
    from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord.
“For I will forgive(K) their wickedness
    and will remember their sins(L) no more.”

35 This is what the Lord says,

he who appoints(M) the sun
    to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars
    to shine by night,(N)
who stirs up the sea(O)
    so that its waves roar(P)
    the Lord Almighty is his name:(Q)
36 “Only if these decrees(R) vanish from my sight,”
    declares the Lord,
“will Israel(S) ever cease
    being a nation before me.”

37 This is what the Lord says:

“Only if the heavens above can be measured(T)
    and the foundations of the earth below be searched out
will I reject(U) all the descendants of Israel
    because of all they have done,”
declares the Lord.

38 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when this city will be rebuilt(V) for me from the Tower of Hananel(W) to the Corner Gate.(X) 39 The measuring line(Y) will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. 40 The whole valley(Z) where dead bodies(AA) and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley(AB) on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate,(AC) will be holy(AD) to the Lord. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

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Footnotes

  1. Jeremiah 31:32 Hebrew; Septuagint and Syriac / and I turned away from
  2. Jeremiah 31:32 Or was their master